CYC Attariya coasted to a seven-wicket win over Kathmandu Goldens to finish  atop the Dhangadhi Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament standings with  eight points on Tuesday.

The tournament now heads into the playoffs after the last match of the league  stages on Tuesday that confirmed the teams to compete in the Qualifier and  Eliminator matches. The result meant Attariya and Goldens will square off yet  again on Wednesday in the first Qualifier with final berth at stake. The losers  of Wednesday’s match will have a second shot at securing a place in the final when they play the winners of Eliminator match between Rupandehi  Challen-gers and Mahendranagar United in the second Qualifier on Friday. The  Eliminator match in on Thursday. The final is scheduled for Saturday.

On the pitch on Tuesday, last year’s runner-up team lead by national team vice  captain Gyanendra Malla suffered their first defeat of the tournament having  been bowled out for a lowly 75 runs in 20 overs. Attariya overcame the total  for the loss of three wickets in 17 overs. Goldens were in a dire strait after  losing openers Gaurav Tomar (1) and Anil Sah (5) to be 6-2 in the second over.  Only a dogged innings from skipper Malla helped them avoid a total  embarrassment. Malla top scored for his team with a painstaking 32 off 49 balls  with just two hits to the fence. Yogendra Singh Karki (13) and Ankit Dabas  (10), Tomar’s Indian compatriot, were the only other Goldens’ batsmen to make  runs of any note. skipper Dipendra Singh Airee claimed three and Ramnaresh Giri  took two wicket for Attariya. Sunny Patel and Bhuwan Karki also snared one  wicket each.

In reply, Attariya lost opener Shubhendu Pandey (5) cheaply but Jaykishan  Kolsawala, Airee and Prem Tamang eased their run  chase. Kolsawala scored 33 off 42 balls with five boundaries, Airee clobbered a  quickfire 20 not out, his 11-ball cameo included three boundaries, while Tamang  chipped in a sedate 10 off 23 with a six. Sandeep Jhora remained unbeaten on 7.  Lalit Singh Rajbanshi, Rashid Khan and Surya Tamang took one wicket each for  Goldens.

Summary

CYC Attariya 79-3 in 17 overs (J Kolsawala 33, D Airee 20*; R Khan 1-14, L Rajbanshi 1-20) beat Kathmandu Goldens 75 in 20 overs (G Malla 32, Y Karki 13; D Airee 3-4, R Giri 2-23) by seven wickets

Man-of-the-match: DS Airee

Standings

Team    P    W    L    NR    Pts    NRR

CYC Attariya    5    4    1    0    8    0.852

Kathmandu Goldens    5    3    1    1    7    1.132

Rupandehi Challengers    5    3    2    0    6    -0.662

Mahendranagar United    5    1    2    2    4    -0.128

Biratnagar Kings    5    1    2    2    4    -0.546

Dhangadhi Stars    5    0    4    1    1    -0.893